"Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragon Force, from the 2006 album Inhuman Rampage is not only the most difficult song on Guitar Hero III - it ranks among the most difficult of the entire series. To survive this song on an expert level, you mostly need a lot of practice, but with a few tricks, you can make it. In fact, the song was first completed with a perfect score in 2008.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Surviving the Introduction
Step 1. Use an elastic band or fretboard to hold down the green note
The introductory section of this song, which forces you to alternate green notes and other notes on the neck at a high tempo, is considered by many to be one of the most difficult sections of the entire song. A common trick used by Guitar Hero experts to make this section easier is to hold down the green note with a rubber band or proper nut throughout the section. This way, the player will only have to concentrate on the other notes - not an easy task, but certainly easier.
If you want to use this trick, make sure the instrument you're using is pressing enough to keep the green button pressed all the time, but it's easy enough to take it off to continue with the rest of the song
Step 2. Use hammer-ons for intro (don't always use pick lever)
After the first red note, the whole intro is a huge sequence of hammer-ons and pull-offs, which don't require you to use leverage, just tap the right buttons. This means that, surprisingly, it is possible to conclude this section using the lever on the first note only. Extra strumming won't make you lose points if they're on the correct notes, but they're not necessary, so you may want to focus more on the notes to mash.
- Hammer-ons are performed by playing the first note and then pressing the second-highest note fret on the neck without repeating the strum. On the contrary, pull-offs involve struming on a note and then pressing a lower note on the neck without repeating the strum. In Guitar Hero, hammer-ons and pull-offs have a white center (no black border).
- The hardest thing about using just hammer-ons and pull-offs for the intro is that if you miss even one note, you'll have to repeat the strum to reset the "string". If you're not careful, it's easy to lose dozens of notes after forgetting to use the lever after a mistake.
Step 3. Alternatively, you can consider playing the intro tapping
Playing these sections with one hand can be very difficult. If you can't reach the blue and orange notes, help yourself with your right hand (the one you use to move the lever).
- To do this, place your right hand on the guitar neck after the first strum and use your index and middle fingers to press the blue and orange frets. For example, if you move the lever with your right hand, use it to play the first note and then use the index and middle fingers of that hand to play the blue and orange notes (reverse the directions if you are left handed).
- Some high-level players even use their right elbow to strike the first note - this allows them to hold their fingers already in the right position.
Step 4. Avoid an introductory section color
Can't press all the notes in the introduction? Try to focus on just four colors and ignore the hardest to hit notes (like orange ones for example). You will lose points, but there are enough notes in the intro that you won't fail if you hit all the others correctly.
Remember that if you miss a note and stop the streak, you will have to use the lever again - the hammer-on and pull-off sequence cannot continue
Step 5. Prepare to immediately switch to the fast ladders
One of the things that make the introduction so difficult is that, after repeating the extremely complex pattern many times, the section ends with a very fast sequence of completely different scales. However, this part is not impossible if you know what awaits you:
- The intro pattern ends with a green note and the scales begin with an orange note - they are in the same positions as the intro pattern, so if you pay attention, you can easily switch between them.
- The first descending scale consists entirely of pull-offs. However, you will need to play the second green note at the bottom of the scale again. Afterwards, you will also have to play the second orange note of the ascending scale.
Part 2 of 3: Coping with the Rest of the Song
Step 1. If necessary, leave the elastic band until the beginning of the vocal part
If you used the strap trick described above, you might think you need to take it off as soon as you finish the introduction. That's not true - in Guitar Hero, if you have to play a single note, you can hold down as many notes below (higher in the neck) of it as you like and you'll still be able to play the note. Since there are no chords (two or more notes at a time) until the vocal part of the song begins, you can leave the elastic band until then and it won't impact your performance.
This is useful, because you will avoid missing notes to remove the band during the early stages of the song which are full of notes. After the first chord, there is a short pause of the guitar section, which will give you a second to safely get rid of the elastic band
Step 2. Use a steady sixteenth note rhythm for the fast picking section
Throughout the song, there are many parts where you will have to play a single note very quickly for a second or two. The best way to deal with these parts is not to move the lever as fast as possible - this can cause you to lose points and interrupt your streak, because you will play too many notes. Instead, you should follow a fast but very steady pace. Since there are so many notes in these sections, if you don't follow a steady rhythm, you can lose dozens of notes.
For sections like "Post Insanity," which follows the intro, where this fast rhythm alternates between multiple notes, focus on keeping the strum constant and move your fingers around the neck when you need to change notes. Once you've mastered the strum rhythm, these sections aren't that difficult
Step 3. Successfully complete the easier sections that give star power
Having a stash of star power to rely on can mean the difference between winning and losing in this song. For this, you should make sure that you take every opportunity to gain star power. You can't afford to miss out on an easy star power section. Below you will find some of the less difficult sections where you can earn star power, in the first part of the song - if you manage to complete them, you will be able to tackle the easy sections of the whole song:
- Just before the noisy instruments pick up during the first verse there are some easy chords followed by a short scale.
- Immediately after this section, there is a long series of rapid green notes that give star power.
- When the lyrics of the song say "So now we fly ever free / We're free before the thunderstorm," there are two simple star power sections in a row.
- At the beginning of the first chorus ("So far away …"), there is a very simple opportunity to gain star power with two chords. Use the tremolo bar for even more star power!
Step 4. Use the star power carefully
In a difficult song like this, where survival is more important than points, star power isn't useful if you don't use it to overcome the hardest points. Although almost the whole song it's hard enough for you to risk defeat, there are some parts that better players find even more difficult than others. You will find them below (the names of each section are taken from the Training mode):
- "They're hammer ons" (introduction)
- "Blackest waves"
- "Climactic Buildup"
- "Herman's Solo"
- "What the..!?"
- "Rampaging Dragons."
- "Twin Solo" - if you can get through this section, you should be able to handle the rest of the song.
Part 3 of 3: Improving Your Skills
Step 1. Use training mode
Guitar Hero's training mode is great for tackling more difficult songs like "Through the Fire and Flames". In Training mode, you have many features at your disposal to be able to learn one step at a time to play the real song. These include:
- The ability to slow down the tempo of the song.
- The ability to practice single parts of the song without having to play it all.
- The ability to adjust the scrolling speed; note that to do this you will need to enter a cheat in the Options menu.
Step 2. Start playing the song on a doable difficulty, then switch to expert
Unless you have the skill of Herman Li (guitarist and songwriter for Dragonforce), the odds of you being able to complete the song on Expert the first time you play it are very, very low. The best way to get good at this song is generally to start on a difficulty that allows you to complete it (even one of the lower difficulties). This will let you understand the most important moments of the song and will help you gradually improve your speed and accuracy (although the jumps from normal to difficult and from difficult to expert are quite large).
Also, playing on the lower difficulties will allow you to pass the intro so that you can rehearse the next parts
Step 3. Practice other difficult songs to vary
The skills that allow you to complete other difficult Guitar Hero songs will also be useful for "Through the Fire and Flames" - plus, practicing other difficult songs will prevent you from "getting bored" by Dragonforce. Below you will find a selection of songs from the Guitar Hero versions that contain "Through the Fire and Flames" and are considered to be among the most difficult:
- Guitar Hero III
- "Raining Blood" by Slayer
- "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (cover) originally by the Charlie Daniels Band
- "One" by Metallica"
- Guitar Hero Smash Hits
- "Play With Me" by Extreme
- "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold
- "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden
Step 4. Listen to the real song
Part of what makes "Through the Fire and Flames" so difficult to complete is that it's very difficult to guess the next part. But if you listen to the song until you know it almost by heart, it will be easier to deal with it. Once you've mastered the song's progression, you can think about what's next when you play it in Guitar Hero - for example, if you know Herman Li's impossible solo is about to start, you might decide to keep star power until you really need it..
Advice
- If you want to rely on star power to overcome solos, timing is everything. There are 3 sections where it is easy to gain star power in solos. Be careful not to use the existing star power so you can't collect 2 of the 3 sections before it runs out. A good tip is to use star power right at the start of the solo (and don't wait). When the star power runs out, you should be ready to collect the first of the 3 sections.
- It may be helpful to play this song in a cooperative.
- If you want the song to become really impossible, enable the hyper speed cheat in the cheat menu and set it to "speed # 5". The code is Orange, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Yellow. Remember to use strumming at the beginning of the song.
- Practice makes perfect! If you can't complete the song, work on other songs. A good training goal is to reach 10 million points with the 42 songs on the list.
- To practice long hammer-ons, try Cult of Personality's solo, or My Name is Jonas' intro, coda, and solo. Don't forget to practice the Cliffs of Dover intro and One solo as well. Start with the lowest difficulties and gradually move on to the higher ones.
Warnings
- If you don't know how to use tapping in solos in the center of the song, don't try it during an attempt to complete the song. Try it only in training mode. If you want to learn, look for player videos illustrating this technique.
- Don't spend 10 hours a day trying to complete the song. Practice with the solo, intro, Post Insanity and "Rampaging Dragons". You will improve step by step.
